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Runtime: 9:28
0:00 Mercedes AMG GT Shows Off Axial Flux Motors
1:21 RIP Bollinger Motors
2:04 Tariffs Anyone? Audi Q3 Gets $3,900 Price Hike
2:45 Tesla Sales Plummet 50% In Europe
3:36 Republicans Target U.S. Safety Standards
5:47 Li Auto Turns from Profits to Red Ink
6:20 Great Wall Eyes European Plant
7:01 Leapmotor Enters Brazil & Chile
7:24 BYD Brazil Plans Big Capacity Expansion
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MERCEDES AMG GT SHOWS OFF AXIAL FLUX MOTORS
Do you remember that crazy axial flux motor from a company called Yasa that only weighs 28 pounds but makes 750 kW or just over 1,000 horsepower? If you do, you may also remember that Mercedes bought Yasa in 2021 and now Mercedes is showing off the first prototype that will use axial flux or what are also called pancake motors. This is the Mercedes‑AMG GT 4‑Door Coupe, a preview of a new high-performance EV that will be revealed next year and a model that will feature three axial flux motors as well as direct battery cooling. The magnets and coils inside an axial flux motor are much closer together and there’s a much larger surface area for them to interact. That leads to impressive power density, like 1,000-plus horsepower, however YASA estimates the continuous power output would be more in the range of 350-400 kW, which is roughly 470-535 horsepower. But with three of these motors on tap, the new Mercedes‑AMG GT 4‑Door Coupe should offer some pretty impressive performance.
RIP BOLLINGER MOTORS
EV startup Bollinger Motors is officially dead. The company, which made chassis cab trucks and also developed a boxy pickup and SUV, officially closed its doors last Friday. Bollinger was struggling to meet payroll, it’s been sued by at least six suppliers for $5 million in overdue bills and the company’s founder, Robert Bollinger, who left the company, is suing to get back the $10 million he loaned to it. Bollinger’s parent company, Bollinger Innovations, which was formerly called Mullin Automotive, is still operating. However, it was delisted from the NASDAQ last month because its stock dropped below $1 per share.
TARIFFS ANYONE? AUDI Q3 GETS $3,900 PRICE HIKE
The Audi Q3 is getting a big price hike in the U.S. The next-gen version goes on sale in the first quarter next year with a starting price just under $45,000 or $3,900 more than the previous model. The new Q3 offers better technology and more power than the outgoing one which explains some of the price increase. But it’s built in Hungary, which means it gets slapped with the U.S. tariffs. The price hike comes at a bad time for the Q3. Sales are already down 16% so far this year and the Q3 is Audi’s second-best selling model in the U.S.
TESLA SALES PLUMMET 50% IN EUROPE
Sales of EVs in all of Europe last month were up nearly 33%, but Tesla continues to get hammered in the region. The company registered less than 7,000 vehicles in October, a drop of nearly 50% compared to last year. Meanwhile, BYD’s registrations in Europe were up over 206% last month. Obviously, it sells more than just EVs and we bet Chinese automakers are a big part of the reason why PHEV sales shot up over 40% compared to last year. More than 116,500 plug-in hybrids were sold in Europe in October, which is also a big deal because PHEVs have now outsold diesels through the first 10 months of the year, a first for Europe.
REPUBLICANS TARGET U.S. SAFETY STANDARDS
Republicans in the U.S. Congress are getting ready to attack safety standards on cars. They’re blaming regulations for the high cost of cars. “Affordability” has become a political buzzword for both Republicans and Democrats and each party is trying to claim the moral high ground. Senate Republicans say automatic emergency braking and seatbelt reminders for back seat passengers are ineffective. They’re arguing in favor of autonomous driving instead. Here’s our Autoline Insight. It’s true that traffic fatalities in the U.S. are now significantly higher than they were before NHTSA mandated electronic stability control, backup cameras, forward collision warning and automated emergency braking. But everyone seems to be missing the easiest solution possible, V2V technology. Vehicle to vehicle technology is already on the shelf, it’s inexpensive and it can make it almost impossible for cars to crash into each other.
LI AUTO TURNS FROM PROFITS TO RED INK
China’s auto industry is formidable on so many levels, except for two glaring flaws. It’s struggling with massive overcapacity and hardly any automakers are profitable. Li Auto, one of the few Chinese automakers that made money, is now in the red as sales fell nearly 40% in the last quarter. And short sellers smell blood. Li Auto’s stock is down 20% this year and the shorts are sure it’s going to drop even more. The number of shares being shorted is at an all-time high.
GREAT WALL EYES EUROPEAN PLANT
Europe is another major market with too much manufacturing capacity. And it could get worse. Great Wall Motors is reportedly looking for a manufacturing site in Europe to build 300,000 cars a year. And BYD is already looking for a third European manufacturing site. At the same time, the traditional European manufacturing plants are operating well below capacity. For example, Fiat is launching a hybrid version of the 500 at its Mirafiori plant in Italy. Back in the 1960s that plant made a million cars a year. But Fiat only plans to make 100,000 Fiat 500s there next year.
LEAPMOTOR ENTERS BRAZIL & CHILE
The Chinese are also making significant inroads in South America. Leapmotor just launched operations in Brazil and Chile this month with plans to sell both fully-electric and extended range EVs. As part of its partnership with Stellantis, Leapmotor will use Stellantis’ dealer network and after-sales system, which includes Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen and Jeep.
BYD BRAZIL PLANS BIG CAPACITY EXPANSION
And BYD’s plant in Brazil has now built 10,000 vehicles. It has the capacity to produce 150,000 vehicles a year and is currently making the Dolphin EV and plug-in hybrid versions of the Song Pro and King models. BYD plans to increase the plant’s capacity to 600,000 units a year, which would make it the company’s largest plant outside of China.
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V2V is the brass ring for safety improvement. Stronger licensing and enforcement will also help.
The reason traffic fatalities are up, is that there is more crazy driving, especially by people in huge vehicles. In my last few highway trips, I have seen far more people going very fast, passing on the right with no reason, and other high risk behavior. I suppose V2V could be useful, but how? Would it steer two cars on a collision course away from each other, and into pedestrians on the sidewalk, or ?
Seeing the statistic about fatalities and seat belt use, maybe medical care should be denied drivers and passengers who are injured while not wearing seat belts.
Tariffs, not safety features, are starting to have a major affect on “affordability,” Automatic emergency braking is very cheap to add to cars that already have adaptive cruise control, such as Toyota Corolla. Seat belt reminders are also very cheap to do.
The thing about V2V tech, it requires most of the tech that legislators are saying is adding inefficient cost to vehicles! How could vehicles use V2V to keep vehicles from colliding, as mentioned in todays report, if ABS, automatic emergency breaking, blind spot monitoring and LiDar systems are not a part of the vehicles nervous system?
The EV motors for the AMG GT sound impressive and seem to take the fight straight to the Sapphire and Model S Plaid, but they have yet to indicate range with those motors! After that recording setting drive with those two concepts, the expectations are high on that front.
It would be nice if a manufacturer offered a 4 door sedan that had just the minimum required safety equipment on board with no extra cameras and radar sensors needed for some features. Even offer a sporty model of that car that is affordable,like below 30K. Maybe not many people would buy it or manufacturers wouldn’t make enough profit on them like they do on SUVS and CUVS. I would buy one if they did. I’m thinking cars like the Dodge Neons back in the 90’s and early 2000’s.
From what I can find, removing all safety equipment except seat belts would decrease the cost of building a car less than $1000. Apparently adding stability control doesn’t add much cost, if you already have ABS, and ABS costs only ~$300, now that all “light” vehicles have it. Radar adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking must not cost too much, since the cheapest Toyota Corolla has it. Maybe the most expensive safety feature of modern vehicles is the design and implementation of structures for meeting crashworthiness standards.
Air bags, radar, the control modules, and development costs all add up to big $$$. V2V is more cost efficient and has proven capability to avoid collisions, particularly at bling intersections. Older vehicles can plug-in a V2V module to alert other vehicles of their potential collision course presence.
What do V2V modules do, other than synchronize flashing lights on emergency vehicles? That’s all I could find.
18 years,wow! Good for you guys and all your support people,and thanks.
I’m sure whatever the politicians do will make the problem worse. I think more enforcement of the driving laws would be a good start. But it seems never a police officer around. How about about cameras to detect red light runners and
Speeders.
There were some red light cameras where I am in Florida, but, unfortunately, they are gone. Some legal thing.
I recenty saw that the GM vans are being discontinued, after 30 years. That must be a near-record for a vehicle changed to little over its lifetime.
Every time I read about auto accidents I look to see the time of day they occurred
. It’s no surprise that many are between 10 PM and 6:00 AM. Driving impaired and excess speed are the main reasons.
Kit, that’s sad to hear about the GM vans, I just rented one at Home Depot to move a lift chair from my mother-in-law’s apartment to our house since she was getting a new one and I found I really liked driving it despite it being kind of loud it had great acceleration, good steering, great brakes, good ride, and a great perch up high to look out from. As far as an automotive platform, they don’t come much simpler, with a large naturally aspirated V6 pushrod engine and just rear wheel drive and simple leaf springs on the back axle for the model I rented. I really can’t wait to have an excuse to rent one again someday!
Those vans have been a platform for a lot of airport shuttles, etc.
If they took the safety features out of vehicles, would that mean the cost of insurance would go up?
Yep, car insurance, and health care costs would go up. I suspect the most effective safety feature, by far, is probably the cheapest to install, seat belts. I don’t think I’ve ever activated traction control, except “playing” to see how it behaves.
I meant, I don’t think I’ve ever activated stability control, except playing. I’ve definitely activated traction control.
I drove through the local Tesla store, and it was interesting. The Models Y and 3 had turn signal stalks, but the Model S did not. I didn’t look at the Cybertrucks. Also, the Ys had no badging of any kind. Is that because Tesla has become somewhat of a “damaged” brand? Most people would know what the cars are, but the badging would make it more obvious.